Articles of furniture, such as bedchairs and bed settees



Dec. 26, 1939; c. FRECH ET AL ARTICLES 0F FURNITURE, SUCH AS BEDCHAIRS AND BED SETTEES 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 29, 1938 H. NW mm mm mm Qw Dec. 26, 1939.

ARTICLES OF FURNITURE,

3 Sheets-Ewe,-

Filed March 29, 1938 Patented Dec.26, 1939 v g I UNITED sr'rss r'rsNT OFFlCE ARTICLES F FURNITURE, SUCH AS BED- GHAIRS AND BEE SETTEES Charles Frech and John Eric Nilsson, London, England Application March 29, 1938, Serial No. 198,767 In Great Britain March 14, 1938 13 Claims. (Cl. -31) This invention relates to improvements in average bedstead. Alternatively, if provision is articles of furniture, such as bedchairs andbed made for a bed surface of ,usual bedstead height, settees of the kind in which an extension section the seating surface of the chair or settee is unis normally supported on a main frame to which comfortably high. The improved constructions 5 said section is hingedly or pivotally connected, according to this invention obviate these disadthe section being swung overto extend the supvantages by providing both a bed surface and a porting surface of the article, for example, to chair or settee seating surface at comfortable convert the chair or settee into abed. heights above fioor level; In order to achieve I Broadly, the present invention provides a bedthis desirable result, the projection of the bedchair or bed settee or like article having an exlegs is caused to elevate the main frame into a tending supporting surface of the kind referred position in which a horizontal supporting surface to, characterized in that after a predetermined provided on said main frame is brought into initial swing-over movement of an extension secal gnment with a Second o ta Supporting I .tion in relation to the main frame of the article, surface provided on the underside of the swungone or more members on the swinging extension over extension section, thereby providing a .fuil h automatically effect the projection of legs belength supporting surface for mattresses and heath the main frame in which, latterthe said bed-Clot i legs are normally housed. The invention will The leg-projecting mechanism is housed in the I hereinafter be described with particular refer main frame of the chair or settee and the leg- 'ence to a bedchair or bed settee. projecting movements thereof are initiated 20 Means are provided to effect a delay'in the through the agency of the leg-operating memmovement of the leg-operating members until hers carried by the extension section after a prethe predetermined point in the swing of the exdetermined initial swinging movement of said tension section is reached. Preferably, the means section. Te bed-legs may be of collapsible form, -=-provided are such that the leg-operating memin which case they are preferably housed in the 2;- bers remain stationary during the initial swingcollapsed condition solely within box-like strucover movement and that after such initial movetures provided in the main frame, or the bedlegs ment the axis of pivoting of the extension secmay be of rigid form, in which case they are tion during the initial movement is transferred housedoutof sight when the article isin chair or to a lower axis of pivoting, after which transfer settee form partly within the main frame and 30 action the leg-operating members operate to efpartly within the extension section which rests feet extension of the normally concealed bedupon said frame.

legs. In order to impart rigidity to the extended In addition to the bed-legs being of collapsible bed, the leg-operating members initiate or efor rigidform, the leg-projecting mechanism may 35-fect the projection simultaneously of two transbe constructed in several ways, eXamplBs 0f 35 verse pairs of legs, one pair at or near the rear which are hereinafter more particularly de-- of the main frame, forming the rear legs of the scribed.

extended bed, and the other pair at or near It will have been understood from the forethe front of the main frame, forming legs going description that the term bed-legs is apintermediate of the length of the extended bed. plied to movable legs carried by and adapted to 40 In preferred constructions, according to this 'project below the main frame so as to elevate invention, the usual back of the chair or settee same. When the extension section has been (and arms, if provided) move with the swingfully swung over, with consequent elevation of over extension section and the main frame of the the main frame and the projection of the bedchair or settee is provided with a separate up 'legs,'the chair or settee back may form the sup- 5 right member which is normally disposed beport for the foot end of the bed, or alternatively hind the chair or settee back and which forms extensible front or foot-end legs may be housed a head board when the chair or settee is con in the extension section, which are automatically verted to bed-like form. projected to an operative position when the said 503 Hitherto bedchairs and bed settees have gensection is swung over.

erally been constructed so that the main frame The main reason for providing for a delay in remains resting upon its own legs when converted the leg-projecting movement while the extension into a bed. In such constructions, a comfortable section isswung through a predetermined initial seat height above the floor level results in a bed movement, is to make it an easy task for the surface whichis rather lower than that of the extension section to be swung up vertically and 55;

thereafter to take advantage of the weight of the pivoted section to exert a leg-projecting effort, such effort being aided, if desired, by the pulling power of springs associated with the legprojection mechanism, as will be apparent from the description of particular constructions which follow. For the same reason, the actuating mechanism is also arranged so that when converting a bed into a chair or settee a predetermined initial swinging movement of the extension section must be made before the retraction of the bed-legs is initiated or effected.

The accompanying drawings, which illustrate various embodiments of the invention, show clearly the comparatively large space provided below the seat of the chair or settee in which the bed-clothing may be loosely accommodated, in addition to flock or other mattress pads which are preferably laced to the bed-supporting surface, this latter being composed of two wire spring-mattresses, one on the main frame and the other on the extension section.

Figures 1 to 8 of the drawings show a construction of bedchair employing jointed bed-legs which are housed in the collapsed condition solely within the main frame, Figure 1 being a pictorial view of the chair showing how closely it resembles in appearance an ordinary upholstered armchair, whilst Figure 2 shows the extended bed (Without flock mattresses or bed-clothing) and illustrates the natural bed-like appearance which the article presents. Figure 3 is a part-sectional side View of the article in chair form. Figures 4 and 5 are part-sectional fragmentary front views, the sections being taken on lines IVIV; V--V respectively of Figure 3. Figure 6 is a longitudinal section of the article in bed-form. Figure '7 a fragmentary sectional plan on line VII- III of Figure 6 and Figure 8 is a sectional view of one of the erected jointed bed-legs to an enlarged scale.

Figure 9 is a detail vertical sectional view taken on the line Q-9 of Figure 8.

In the construction of bedchair illustrated in Figures 1 to 8, the same comprises a chair base designated generally as A and a seat unit B, the base A includes a main frame which normally rests upon the floor and has four jointed collapsible legs associated therewith, said legs being hereinafter referred to as bed-legs, and which are housed in a pair of side members in the form of boxes or housings 2 having open bottoms 3. A wire mattress support l extends between side members or boxes 2 and an upright member 5 forms the head board of the bed when the article has been converted into bedform. The seat unit or extension section B comprises a pair of upholstered arms 5, an upholstered back 1, and a wire mattress support 8 having an upholstered seat 9 at its upper side. Said support 8 extends transversely between a pair of closed-in side boxes it which latter extend vertically above and below the level of the mattress 8, the upper parts of said boxes ll) being enclosed within the upholstered arms 5. In this construction the boxes Ill serve only to house the auxiliary front-end legs used when the chair is extended to bed-form. The use of these auxiliary legs is optional and if not required there is no necessity to employ the boxes ill, any other suitable side members being then provided.

The chair base or main frame A and the seat unit or extension section B are connected together solely by means of a pair of hinge bars ll,

one at each side of the chair, said bars ll being hinged to the boxes 2 of the mainframe A at pivots I2, and to the boxes ll) of the extension section B at pivots l3.

The wire mattress 5 of the main frame A is resiliently mounted for use as bed-supporting surface by being suspended on tension springs M anchored to housings l5 and secured to the walls of the boxes 2. Similarly, in order that the wire mattress 8 of the extension section B shall yield when the seat 9 is sat on, rods 16 are provided which rest upon compression springs l'l carried in housings l8 secured to the walls of the boxes Hi. When the section B is swung over to form a bed extension, the mattress 8 also yields to any weight imposed thereon by reason of the rods [6 then bearing down upon the compression springs Ii) carried in housings 20 also secured to the walls of the boxes l5.

The collapsed bed-legs 2| and the leg-projecting mechanism associated therewith are housed in each of the open-bottom main-frame boxes 2, each leg consisting of a pair of tubes 2la2lb forming upper and lower sections connected together by a pivoted knee joint 22, the upper tube 2m being anchored by a pivot connection 23 to the roof 24 of the box 2 whilst the lower tube 2H2 is anchored by a pivot 25 to a longitudinal hollow connecting bar. 26 which joins the two legs on one side of the chair together and has knobs 2? for supporting the bar 26 above floor level. In order to ensure equal collapsing and erecting movement of the bed-legs, worm sectors 2lc are secured to the bottom sections of the half-legs 2H) which co-operate with a spindle 26a rotatably mounted within the hollow bar 26, the opposite ends of the spindle 26a having worm threads or pinions 2% adapted to mesh with the sectors 2lc. Transverse connection bars 28 join together the two side bars 26 on opposite sides of the frame which constitutes the base of the chair which rests on the floor. Within each tubular leg section 2la2lb is housed a tension spring 29, anchored at the knee-joint end thereof to a plug 35 and at the opposite end to an anchorage pin 3i which is eccentrically disposed in relation to the axis of swinging of the halfleg 2la2lb about the pivot 24 or 25 respectively that the springs 29 function to assist the legs in moving from the collapsed to the extended position. The leg-operating mechanism consists of a system of pivoted linkage comprising a main link 32 pivoted to the lower end of the hinge bar H and to a straight lever 33 pivotally anchored at 35, a connecting link 35 extending between the lever 33 at the cranked lever 36 which is pivotally anchored at 31. From the levers 33 and 36 outwardly extend in opposite directions links 3839 respectively which arev connected to the upper parts of the upper halflegs 2 la. It will be apparent from Figures 3 and 6 that when the hinge bars H swing about pivots l2, the linkage operates to erect the collapsed legs, the leg springs 29 assisting in the action. It will also be quite clear from. the drawings that during .the initial swing-over movement of the extension section B, said section swings about the pivots I3, without moving the hinge bars II. When the section B reaches the position indicated in chain-dotted lines in Figure 3, the floors lil of the boxes l5 abut against the hitherto stationary hinge bars l i so that during the continued swinging movement of the section B, said bars ll move with the section and thus actuate the leg-projecting mechanism. In other words, the 7 axis of swinging of section 'B is transferred from pivots E3 to pivots I2.

During the initial swing-over movement of extension section B about pivots I3, the links 4! swing idly about the upper ends of the stationary hinge bars ll without imparting much swinging movement to the spring-controlled cranked levers 42, so that the front-end legs 43 which slide Within tubular housings 44 in the chair back 'i are not projected beyond the top of said back I. When the section B and hinge bars H swing about pivots i2, however, the links 4| and levers 42 operate to project the front-end legs 43 to the position shown in Figure 6.

It will be observed that ample space for the storage of flock mattresses (which are preferably laced to the wire mattresses 4, 8) and of all the necessary bedclothes is afforded in the chair within the space between the wire mattresses 4, 8. Figure 9 illustrates clearly the extent'to which the extension section B can be swung over before the leg-projecting movements are effected, whilst Figure 10 shows how, after the predetermined initial swing-over movement has been effected,

.the continued swinging of the section B is accompanied by the projection of the bed-legs. The opening at the front of the chair between the wire mattresses 4 and 8 is normally covered by a flexible curtain 45.

We claim:

1. An article of furniture for use as a chair or bed, including: a chair base comprising a frame adapted to rest on the floor, side members, a transverse mattress support connecting the side members, elevating means respectively connected to the frame and side members; vertically disposed hinge bars pivotally connected to said side members and operatively connected at their lower ends with said elevating means; a seat unit including a transverse mattress support, means pivotally connecting the seat unit with the hinge bars above their points of pivotal connection with the side members, and means carried by the seat unit for engaging the rear side of the hinge bars as the seat is tilted to overturn forwardly and downwardly to move said bars and actuate said elevating means to raise the mattress support of the chair base so that it willbe in horizontal alinement with the mattress support of the overturned seat.

2. An article of furniture for use as a chair or bed, including; a chair base comprising a frame adapted to rest on the floor, side members, a transverse mattress support connecting the side members, elevating means connected to the frame and side members and including jointed inwardly collapsible leg members; vertically disposed hinge bars pivotally connected to said side members and operatively connected at their lower ends with said elevating means; a seat unit including a transverse mattress support, means for pivotally connecting the seat unit with the hinge bars above their points of pivotal connection with the side members, and means carried by the seat unit for engaging the rear side of the hinge bars as the seat is tilted to overturn forwardly and downwardly to move said bars and actuate the collapsible legs of said elevating means to raise the mattress support of the chair base so that it will be in horizontal alinement with the mattress support of the overturned seat.

3. An article of furniture for use as a chair or bed including; a chair base comprising a frame adapted to rest on the floor, side members in the form of housings having outer and inner walls, a transverse mattress support connecting the inner walls, a vertical back wall at the rear end of said side members, elevating means connected to the frame and the side members and including jointed legs connected by links with levers pivoted to the walls of the side members; vertically disposed hinge bars pivotally connected to the front ends of said side members and operaseat unit with the bars above their points of pivotal connection with the side members, and means carried by the seat unit for engaging the rear sides of the hinge bars as the seat unit is tilted to overturn forwardly and downwardly to move said bars and actuate said elevating means to raise the mattress support of the chair base so that it will be in horizontal alinement with the mattress support of the overturned seat.

4, An article of furniture for use as a chair or bed, including; a chair base and a seat unit; vertically disposed hinge bars pivotally connecting the front ends of the chair base and seat unit; a frame in said chair base, legs connected at their lower ends to the frame, lower boxes constituting the sides of the chair base supported on the upper ends of the legs and concealing the same, a transverse mattress support connecting the lower boxes; upper boxes forming arm members for the seat unit, a transverse mattress support connecting the upper boxes, means mounted in said lower boxes and cooperating with said legs for elevating said lower boxes relative to said frame; actuating means connecting the last named means with the lower ends of said hinge bars; and means carried by the seat unit and engaging the hinge bars above their pivotal connection with the seat unit as it is tilted to overturn forwardly and downwardly to operate the hinge bars and said actuating means connected therewith and thereby elevate the lower boxes and the mattress support carried thereby into horizontal alinement with the mattress support of the upper boxes when the forwardly tilted seat has been completely overturned.

5. An article of furniture for use as a chair or bed, including; a chair base comprising, a frame, lower boxes forming side members at each side of the frame, collapsible jointed legs having their lower ends pivotally connected to said frame and also having their upper extremities pivotally connected to-said lower boxes and a transverse mattress support carried by said boxes; a seat unit comprising upper arm boxes, a transverse mattress support carried by said arm boxes; vertically disposed hinge bars pivotally connecting said lower and upper boxes, link and lever means concealed in said lower boxes and cooperating with said jointed legs for elevating the said lower boxes; actuating means connecting the link and lever means with the lower ends of said hinge bars; and means carried by the seat unit for engaging the hinge bars as the seat unit is tilted to overturn forwardly and outwardly to operate said hinge bars and actuating means and ele-' vate the mattress support carried by the side members of the chair base into horizontal alinevment with the mattress support of the overturned lever means for actuating said upper and lower frame adapted to rest on the floor, side members connected by an-upright back wall and a transverse mattress support, a pair of jointed inwardly collapsible bed legs at opposite sides 1 of the frame and having their lower ends connected therewith and their upper ends connected to the side members; a seat unit including hollow arms, a back, and a transverse mattress sup port; link and lever means for erecting the legs and elevating said side members, and vertically disposed hinge bars pivoted in the side members, said hinge bars having the seat unit pivotally connected thereto at one side of the pivot, and also having a pivotal connection at the other side of the pivot with the link means,

whereby when the seat unit is tilted to overturn forwardly and a portion thereof engages and turns the hinge bars the latter will elevate the side members through the legs and the mattress .support of the chair base will be elevated into horizontal alinement with the mattress support of the seat when the back of the seat unit is overturned.

7. An article of furniture for use as a chair or bed, including; a chair base comprising a frame adapted to rest on the floor, side members connected by an upright back wall and a transverse mattress support, elevating means connecting the frame and the side members for raising and lowering said side members and back wall; vertically disposed hinge bars pivotally mounted at the front end of said side members so that their lower ends below the pivot may swing inwardly; a seat unit pivotally connected 'to the hinge bars above the pivotal connection of the hinge bars with said side members whereby said seat unit may be tilted forwardly to a vertical position without moving the hinge bars, actuating means connecting the lower ends of the hinge bars with said elevating means, means on the seat unit for engaging the hinge bars as the seat unit moves from a vertical position to a horizontal position thereby to move said hinge bars and actuate said elevating means for raising the side members, and a mattress support in the seat unit adapted to be horizontally alined with the mattress support on the sidemembers of the chair base when the side members are elevated and the seat unit is overturned.

8. An article of furniture for use as a chair or a bed, including; a chair base comprising a frame having a pair of bar members, a pair of bed-leg members for each bar, said leg members each comprising medially jointed upper and lower sections, means for pivotally connecting the lower section of each jointed leg with each bar,

an inverted relatively shallow box overlying each bar member, means for pivotally connecting the upper section of each leg with the transverse wall of each box, a mattress support carried by said boxes; a seat unit including a back, and hollow arm members having top, bottom and side walls and connected by a transverse support provided on one side with an upholstered seat and whose other side forms a mattress support; link and sections of the legs to cause their erection and the elevation of the side boxes; actuating means pivotally connected with said side boxes near their front end and connected with said link and lever means, means for pivotally mounting the seat unit on said actuating means above the latters pivotal connection with the side boxes, said seat member being-tiltable forwardly on the means which connects it with the actuating bed-leg members for each bar, said leg members.

each comprising medially jointed upper and lower sections, means for pivotally connecting the lower section of each jointed leg with each bar, an inverted relatively shallow box overlying each bar member, means for pivotally connecting the upper section of each leg with the transverse wall of each box, a mattress support carried by said boxes; a seat unit including a back and hollow arm members having top, bottom and side walls and connected by a transverse support provided on one side with an upholstered seat and whose other side forms a mattress support, and means for actuating said leg members to elevate the side boxes, said means including a pair of normally vertical hinge bars mounted on transverse pivots in the front end of said box members, a transverse seat pivot in the front end of each hollow arm member and passing through the hinge bars above their pivots in the boxes, interconnected lever means pivotally connecting he upper leg sections with the boxes, link means connecting the lever means with the hinge bars, said hinge bars adapted to be engaged at their upper edges by the bottom walls of the arm members of the seat when the latter is tilted forwardly past vertical position to overturn and move the hinge bars on the transverse pivots in the boxes and thereby move the said link means to bring the upper and lower leg sections into vertical alinement and simultaneously elevate the boxes and mattress support carried thereby into horizontal alinement with the underside of the support between the arm mem bers when the back of the seat unit reaches fully overturned position.

10. An article of furniture for use as a chair or bed, including; a chair base comprising a frame adapted to rest on the fioor, side members connected by an upright back wall and a transverse mattress support, elevating means connecting the frame and the side members for raising and lowering said side members and back wall; vertically disposed hinge bars pivotally mounted at the front end of said side members so that their lower ends below the pivot may swing inwardly, links connecting the lower ends of the hinge bars with said elevating means, a seat unit pivotally connected to the hinge bars above the pivotal connection of the hinge bars with said side members whereby said seat unit may be tilted forwardly to a vertical position without moving the hinge bars, means on the seat unit for engaging the hinge bars as the seat unit moves forwardly a chair, and link and lever means connected with said hinge bars near their upper extremities and adapted to project said leg members of the seat unit to engage with the floor when the seat unit is moved to horizontal position.

11. An article of furniture for use as a chair or bed, including; a chair base comprising a frame adapted to rest on the floor, side members connected by an upright back Wall and a transverse mattress support, elevating means connecting the frame and the side members for raising and lowering said side members and back wall; vertically disposed hinge bars pivotally mounted at the front end of said side members so that their lower ends below the pivot may swing inwardly; links connecting the lower ends of said bars with said elevating means a seat unit pivotally connected to the hinge bars above the pivotal connection of the hinge bars with said side members whereby said seat unit may be tilted forwardly to a vertical position without moving the hinge bars, means on the seat unit for engaging the hinge bars as the seat unit continues to move forwardly from a vertical position to a horizontal position thereby to move said hinge bars and said links to actuate said elevating means for the side members, a mattress support in the seat unit adapted to be horizontally alined with the mattress support of the chair base when the latter is elevated, spring controlled projectible leg members in the seat unit normally housed within the same when the article of furniture is used as a chair, angular levers pivoted in the arms of the seat unit and connected to said projectible leg members, springs connected to said levers tending to eject said leg members, and links connecting said levers with the hinge bars, whereby, when the seat unit is tilted fully forward, the legs will be moved out of the back of the seat and into floor engaging position.

12. An article of furniture for use as a chair or bed, including; a chair base comprising a frame adapted to rest on the floor, side members, a transverse mattress support connecting the side members; elevating means between the side members and the frame for lifting said side members, said elevating means comprising opposite pairs of collapsible legs, said legs each including upper and lower sections pivotally connected together at their inner ends, pivotal connections between the upper ends of said upper sections and the side members, pivotal connections between the lower ends of the lower sections and said frame, said last named pivotal connections including pinions forcing each other and en-,

gaging with right and left worm threads located at opposite ends of a common shaft journaled in said frame, link and lever means pivotally connecting the upper sections of each pair of legs, and a main actuating link for said link and lever means; hinge bars pivotally connected to said side members and operatively connected at their lower ends with said main actuating link; a seat unit including a transversemattress support, means pivotally connecting the seat unit with the hinge bars above their point of pivotal connection with the side members, and means carried by the seat unit for engaging the rear side of the hinge bars as the seat is tilted forwardly and downwardly to move said bars and thereby operate said main actuating link thereby to move said link and lever means to elevate the side members and bring the mattress support carried thereby into horizontal alinement with the seat unit of the mattress support.

13. An article of furniture for use as a chair or bed, including; a chair base comprising a frame adaptedto rest on the floor, side members, a'transverse mattress support connecting the side members; elevating means for saidside members, comprising, pairs of collapsible leg members between the side members and the frame for elevating the side members, each of said leg members being of hollow tubular formation and comprising upper and lower sections pivotally connected at their inner ends, means for pivotally connecting the upper ends of the upper sections to the side members, means for pivotally connecting the lower ends of said lower sections to the frame, a plug anchored in the inner end of each of said leg sections, spring anchoring posts respectivelycarried by the side members 7 and the frame and located in the upper and lower ends of said upper and lower hollow leg members, and springs within the hollow leg members, said springs having their inner ends secured to said plug members and their outer ends connected to the upper ends of said spring anchoringposts on the side members and frame, whereby, the

outer ends of the springs are anchored eccentrically to the pivots for connecting the upper and lower ends of the leg members respectively with the side members and frame; actuating means for the elevating means including said hollow leg members, vertically disposed hinge bars.

pivotally connected to said side members and operatively connected at their lower ends with said actuating means; a seat unit including a transverse mattress support, means for pivotally connecting the seat unit with the hinge bars above their points of pivotal connection with the side members, and means carried by the seat unit, for engaging and moving the hinge bars as the seat is tilted forwardly and downwardly to move said bars and operate the elevating means including the spring tensioned leg members to bring the mattress supports of the chair base and seat into horizontal alinement. CHARLES FRECH. JOHN ERIC NILSSON. 

